Ski for Light Event Planning Manual

June 2011

25. Registration and Housing Coordinator

The Registration and Housing Coordinator is responsible for all matters related to the registration and housing of SFL attendees. This includes roommate matching, room assignments, coordinating registration setup and flow, issuing room keys, and tracking any room changes and subsequent room charges. It is said that the first impression is often a lasting impression. This cliche suggests the importance of a well-organized, efficient registration/check-in process as participants arrive. Registration/check-in includes all activity from the time participants step off the bus until they are settling into their rooms.

Early contact and cooperation with the various Coordinators (Visually Impaired Participant Applications Coordinator, Mobility-Impaired Program Coordinator, Instructor/Guide Application Coordinator), Other Attendee Coordinator, Hotel Function Coordinator, and Information Room Coordinator is essential.

Pre-Event

August 1

• Obtain from the Event Chair the costs of all of the room/meal package options. These include:
  · Full-week package (registration fee, all meals, double-occupancy)
  · Full-week package (registration fee, all meals, single-occupancy)
  · Full-week package (registration fee, all meals, triple-occupancy, if being offerred)
  · Full-week package (registration fee, all meals, quad-occupancy, if being offerred)
  · Day rate (double-occupancy, dinner, breakfast, lunch)
  · Day rate (single-occupancy, dinner, breakfast, lunch)
  · Room only (double-occupancy, no meals)
  · Room only (single-occupancy, no meals)
  · Meals only (registration fee, 20 meals)
  · Local guide: Registration fee, lunches 1 dinner, and banquet
  · Breakfast
  · Lunch
  · Dinner
  · Banquet
  
• Make initial contact with the liaison person at the hotel.
• Receive from SFL President or Event Chair the number of rooms needed and dates for a planning meeting in September or October.

Planning Meeting

• Depending on travel distance, time and budget constraints, you may be asked to attend the planning meeting. If you do not attend, please ensure your responsibilities are carried out by someone who does.
• Obtain a copy of the hotel contract from the Event Chair to familiarize yourself with room costs, conditions, etc.
• Meet with hotel liaison and discuss the following items:
  · Identify number of rooms available, type of rooms and type of beds (queen, Murphy, sofa, etc.) These should be specified in the contract between SFL and the hotel.
  · Obtain floor plans and hotel lay-out.
  · Determine if the facility is a time-share where owners may request rooms at their option.
  · With Hotel Function Coordinator, designate a dog guide relief area that is not too far from the building, out of the traffic flow, and can be cleared of snow. Dog relief area will need a garbage can nearby.
  · Identify possible dog owner rooms on the ground floor near relief area.
  · Check the number of accessible rooms-both bathroom and entry door must be able to accommodate a full-sized wheelchair, no bathtubs with sliding doors, no step up into bathroom, bathroom grab bars. Consider that some furniture, i.e. chairs, may need to be removed if the room is too crowded.
  · Verify with MIP Coordinator the need for wheelchair accessibility.
  · Review procedure for activation of an individual's portfolio. Hotel must not require credit card imprint for telephone activation, etc. SFL master bill will take all unpaid bills and SFL will be responsible for tracking down individuals to obtain payment.
  · Review with hotel SFL's need to have front desk staff give out room numbers of SFL attendees over the phone.
  
• Typical week's number of rooms used:
  · Thursday: 20
  · Friday: 35
  · Saturday: 65
  · Sunday-Thursday: 135
  · Friday-Saturday: 145
  
• Apprise the hotel that only SFL makes roommate assignments and room changes.
• Decide which room/area will be used as the Registration area. It must be set up so that the flow of traffic moves smoothly.
• Registration should be near the hotel's main entrance and with plenty of space for a crowd to mingle. On Sunday, a hospitality area must be set up to accommodate road-weary/jet-lagged folks. The area must be stocked with coffee, juice, crackers, cheese, muffins, and fruit (consult Meals Coordinator).
• Arrange with hotel for early room assignments and key distribution. SFL wishes, unless state law prohibits, to issue room keys from the SFL Registration/Check-in area. Hotel can put name and room number on envelope with key inside to be picked up by Registration and Housing Coordinator. On the pre-event Thursday and Friday, room keys can be issued by the front desk; on Saturday and Sunday, they should be issued by SFL registration.
• Arrange procedure for hotel to handle individual charges at week's end (i.e. personal portfolio and bus boarding pass).
• The Registration and Housing Coordinator is responsible for handling all pre-event housing needs (Board of Directors, Guide Trainers, instructor/guides, extras), mid-week arrivals, and all roommate and room assignments and key distribution.

December 1

• With Event Chair, identify items of local interest to be put in registration packet. These may include brochures from the local Chamber of Commerce or other items deemed of interest.
• Identify source of plastic bags to hold registration items. These can usually be obtained as a donated item from a local source. We need 250-300.

January 1

• Request housing lists from MIP, VIP, Instructor/Guide Applications, and Other Attendee Coordinators.
• Receive hotel room numbers and locations available to SFL.
• Coordinate with SFL Hotel Staff Orientation Coordinator any issues that need to be addressed at pre-event hotel staff orientation.
• Confirm pre-event accommodations for Board of Directors, Guide Trainers, first- and second-year instructor/guides (Thursday-Sunday).
• Confirm with Program Journal Coordinator how and when the Journals will get to SFL.
• Make sure the Local Volunteer and Orientation Coordinator knows volunteer needs and duties for the registration process.
• Confirm with Meals Coordinator the arrangements for the snack (hospitality) to be served Sunday while people are arriving.

January 15

• Start tentative roommate assignments. Rooming considerations:
  · Keep track of male/female, VIP/MIP/Guide, First- and second-year/returning guide, requesting single/double, wheelchair or other handicap, dog guide/no dog guide, specific roommate requests, and date of arrival.
  · Assign dog owners to ground-floor rooms with outside door or near exit to dog area.
  · Intersperse MIP, VIP, and instructor/guide, rooms throughout the hotel.
  · First-year participant rooming with returning participant works well.
  · Early Arrivals: At times, participants will ask to come a day earlier than their expected arrival. All such requests must be approved by VIP, MIP, or Instructor/Guide Applications Coordinator. Keep track of extra nights and verify with Coordinators. Cost of early nights may include meals. Extra nights should be paid for at time of registration.
  · Discuss with Event Chair and SFL President any special room considerations, i.e. assignments to dignitaries, group leaders, and guests.
• Provide hotel with rough draft of housing list. This list must be typed or printed from a computer, not handwritten.
• Obtain names (use nicknames, if given) from VIP, MIP, and Instructor/Guide Applications Coordinators and make color-coded name tags for each type of diet and meal plan. Traditionally, the colors have been:
  · white = full week, standard diet
  · pink = full week, pescatarian diet
  · yellow = lunches and banquet only
  
• Name tags should be constructed so that it is possible to tactually determine on which side of the card the name appears. Names should be written horizontally and large enough so that they are easily visible across a table.

One Week Prior to Event

• Check with Transportation Coordinator about the projected arrival times of the buses. Confirm these times with the Local Volunteer and Recruitment Coordinator who will be coordinating the volunteers arriving to help. Go over arrival dates to cross-check.

International Week

Saturday

• With Event Chair, chose a suitable person to make the bus announcements on Sunday.
• Have volunteers assemble the check-in packets. Name tags should be placed in packets or held behind table and not laid out on table. This prevents people from receiving their name tag before they have been properly registered.
• Packets should include:
  · Program journal
  · SFL patch
  · Local brochures/items
  · Product samples, if available
  · Braille or large-print program for those requesting it
  
• Review plan for handing out room keys.
• Attend all morning "sunrise" meetings.
• Apprise hotel of any last-minute changes.
• All room assignments must be tracked and recorded with room rates and related charges that SFL is required to pay on the master bill at the week's end. The hotel will provide computer-generated lists of roommate names and room numbers.
• Check on actual accessibility of rooms and review with Mobility-Impaired Program Coordinator. Make any room changes as necessary.
• Discuss procedures for relaying messages, receiving packages, and FAX and copying capabilities.
• Make clear to hotel management/switchboard operator that room and phone numbers may be given out over the phone when inquiries are received from SFL participants.
• Give Transportation Coordinator the room numbers of VIP's to put on luggage at airport.
• Coordinate the setting up of the Registration area. Recruit help as needed.
• Arrange for the room keys to be in the Registration area.
• Conduct the registration process for Board of Directors, Guide Trainers, first- and second-year guides, committee members, and any others already in attendance.
• Schedule: The registration table should be open during the following hours. This schedule may need to be adjusted depending upon the time zone of the event and bus schedules.
  Saturday 4:30 - 6:00pm
  Sunday 2:00 - 6:00pm
  
• Registration Flow Pattern
  · Buses arrive at arranged doors
  · People are funneled into the registration area
  
• Station 1:
  · VIP and Instructor/Guide Applications Coordinators
  · The Coordinators check to see if all of the necessary forms have been returned and if there are any outstanding balances to be paid. These balances must be paid in full at this time.
• Forms that need to be collected are:
  · Waiver of Liability Form
  · Emergency Data Form
  
• Station 2:
  · People receive information packet.
• The information that should be included in the packet is:
  · Program Journal
  · SFL patch
  · General information about SFL
  · General information about the ski area
  
• Station 3:
  · People receive name tag (if not included with packet)
  · This name tag should be color-coded according to the person's meal plan. This information should be verified with each person.
• Station 4:
  · People receive their room assignments and room key
  · People should also receive a map of the hotel
• Station 5:
  · Volunteers orient visually-impaired participants to the hotel and to their rooms.

Sunday

• Volunteers are needed to help with registration and luggage moving, to assist visually-impaired participants to their rooms, and with orientation to the hotel. You should recruit 10-15 alumni guides.
• Arrange for the room keys to be in the Registration area.
• The luggage should be unloaded and brought into the hotel through a back or side door and preferably near the elevators. Participants are mailed SFL luggage tags with their acceptance packets. Room numbers should be filled in on the tags at the airport. If room numbers are not already on the tag, a list of people and room numbers should be available to expedite delivery of luggage to rooms. Four to six people are needed to unload and stage luggage.
• Ensure that the designated person gets on each bus and makes the following announcements about how registration will happen:
  · Inform people that they will be receiving room key, name tag, registration packet, and that someone can assist them to their room and that, like on fancy cruises, someone else will be moving their luggage to their rooms
  · Tell people that there is a hospitality area with light snacks and the times that it will be open
  · Dinner time and location
  · Please bring name tag to dinner
  
• If luggage has been tagged at the airport, it should be brought to people's rooms while they are checking in.
• Continue registration process for participants, alumni guides, and all others not yet registered.
• Handle all room changes and problems.

Throughout the Week

• Maintain an accurate count of all rooms used and changes made.
• Handle additional arrivals for mid-week and final weekend. All rooms should be billed to master bill. Method of payment should be coordinated with Event Chair and SFL Treasurer.

Friday

• Discuss method for check-out; payment of individual room charges must be cleared before boarding the bus. The front desk must issue a bus boarding pass upon check-out to indicate a cleared portfolio.
• Request a suitable person(s) to be available to collect bus boarding passes as people board buses Sunday morning.

Sunday

• Be sure to keep all housing records and take them home with you for later verification against master bill.

Post-Event

• Review master bill to verify charges.
• Prepare wrap-up report noting the number of rooms used each day, room changes and special situations encountered.
• Attend wrap-up meeting (if requested).